Two teenage girls charged in attack in Wayland Union High School

WAYLAND -- Two teenage girls have been charged as juveniles with aggravated assault following an attack on a classmate at Wayland Union High School last week.

Police, meanwhile, are waiting for surveillance video from the school to see if they have any further interest in another 14-year-old student who recorded the fight on a digital camera.

Three students, all 14, were cleaning out their lockers on the final day of school last week when two of them approached and attacked the other girl, according to police. The victim suffered two black eyes and facial bruises, Wayland Police Chief Dan Miller said.

Miller said shortly after the incident that federal hate-crime charges may be considered, since the victim identifies herself as a lesbian and that fact may have played a role in the incident. The FBI declined to investigate the two 14-year-olds for potential federal hate-crimes charges, however, because of their ages, Miller said this week.

"The state doesn't have a law on the books" for crimes against someone because of their sexual orientation, the police chief said.

If convicted of aggravated assault, the two girls charged could face up to one year in a juvenile detention center and a $1,000 fine, according to Miller.

School officials were expected to meet this week with both girls, who just finished their freshman years, to determine their futures at the high school, Miller said.

Video of the attack, which Miller said was taken from a camera phone and not a cell phone as first reported, began appearing Wednesday afternoon on several Internet sites. Police plan to look at school surveillance recordings of the moments before the incident.

"If we find them (talking) in the hallways before (the fight) we may submit (a charge) on her," Miller said of the girl who recorded the attack on the camera phone.